Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver speaks at a luncheon meeting of the Canadian Club of Toronto on Monday. He said once the budget is balanced and moves into a surplus position there will be relief for “hard-working Canadian families” who pay too much in taxes.

Canadians should not expect a “reckless spending spree” once the federal budget is balanced, Joe Oliver said Monday in his first speech as federal finance minister.

Instead, Ottawa will be focused on giving Canadian families more tax breaks, Oliver told a largely Bay Street crowd at a Canadian Club of Toronto luncheon.

“Our government will not engage in reckless new spending schemes that would lead to increased taxes or higher debt or both,” Oliver said. “So, do not expect a big stimulus program.

“Our priority will be to provide tax relief for hardworking Canadian families,” he said.

His predecessor as finance minister, Jim Flaherty, questioned the government’s promise to introduce income-splitting, a controversial tax measure that would benefit mainly couples with one high-income spouse.

But Oliver did not provide additional details on the types of tax savings Ottawa would introduce and he was not made available to reporters for questions.

In his speech, Oliver confirmed the government’s commitment to balance the books next year, reiterating that Ottawa expects to run a $6 billion surplus.

“Due to the hard work of our government, we will balance the budget next year,” Oliver said to spontaneous applause at the luncheon in a packed ballroom of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

The 73-year-old former investment banker and securities regulator, who represents the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, is well known in Toronto’s financial community.

“Because I am among friends,” he said, “let me give you the back story” of how he spent five hours in suspense on board a flight before learning why the Prime Minister wanted to talk to him.

First his BlackBerry buzzed with an email from his staff saying the Prime Minister wanted to speak to him. Then seconds later he got another email from his wife also saying the PM wanted to talk. “But then the plane takes off, so I have five hours to consider what it might mean,” he said.

“This could be good. Or not,” he said, prompting laughter in the crowd..

For much of the speech, Oliver reiterated existing government policy. His priorities will be job creation and economic growth, he said.

“I will be building on our Economic Plan, which started as a response to the global financial crisis in 2008,” he said.

In response to the crisis, the government made “historic investments” in infrastructure, new investments in skills training and supported workers who lost their jobs, he said. As a result, Canada outperformed most other G-7 economies, he said. “We can thank the Prime Minister and my predecessor Jim Flaherty.”

Since the recession, Canada has created more than 1 million net new jobs, Canadian households have seen an almost 10 per cent increase in their after tax incomes and a more than 45 per cent increase in their net worth, he said.

Taxes for an average family of four have fallen by $3,400, for a senior couple by $2,300 and for small business by $28,000, he said, due to lower sales, income and business taxes.

But more work needs to be done, he said.

“Too many Canadians are looking for work,” he said. Workers are “fearful about losing their jobs and pensioners are anxious about their finances,” he said.

Ottawa has rejected calls to expand the Canada Pension Plan, saying the economy isn’t strong enough. Employers would face higher premiums under the plan. Instead, the government has introduced a voluntary pooled registered pension plan.

Oliver said the country has kept taxes low, helped Canadians get jobs, and signed trade deals with Europe and South Korea that will open new export markets for Canadian goods.

In an apparent reference to some controversial pipeline projects, the former natural resources minister said Canada benefits from an abundance of resources but an “inadequate infrastructure threatens to strand these resources just when global demand for Canadian energy is soaring.”

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